is there a ritual where indians from new mexico attach animal skins to themselves to become that animal?

Question

while a friend was working in new mexico, he was warned to not stop on certain parts of a reservation because indians there have the belief that they can attach animal skins to themselves and become that animal. he was told the skins are literally sewn on their bodies. is this crazy or true??

Answer 1

Your friend was probably warned to stay away from that area because it was used by the "skinwalkers". They are a group of Native Americans, belonging to several tribes, who believe that by wearing the skin of an animal and participating in certain rituals (the which they keep very secret), they can inhabit the body of a living animal and take it over, turning the beast to their use. They are feared and are considered evil shamans.

Should your friend have stumbled upon one or more of them in the midst of a ritual, well, people disappear in the desert all the time.

Answer 2

I believe that the person that told you this was mixing up a few different points.

Years back (even before the "white man" settled in America), Indians would dress (not sew) themselves in the skins of animals and "simulate" the hunt. Hunters would put paint on their faces and carry their bowes and arrows and "pretend" to kill the "animal". This is seen/known as "sympathetic magick" where you act out what you want to happen and you achieve the final result (the killing of the animal for food). It was believed that the God of the Hunt would then allow the hunters to have a successful hunt so all in the village could eat.

Archaeologists has also seen evidence of this very same thing on the walls of caves by early man.

I hope that my answer has helped you. Have a lovely rest of the day.

Answer 3

Your friend may have heard about one of the tribes who practice this.There are legends here in America as well as other countries. People who transform into beasts when donning the skins of animals. Whether done accidentally or on purpose. They're known as werebeast, animal people/gods, etc. Usually, a wolf's skin with head/tail/legs is used. Sometimes, it's a bear's. Mostly, it's for ritual purposes. Once in a while, one of the wearers actually comes to believe that he is the beast. 3 documented cases. Two in Russia and one in America.

Answer 4

It sounds like a skinwalker. These are people that practice the dark magic. They can kill people by "witching" them usually with something personal like hair or nail clippings.

The Navajo tribe has great reverence for the dead and we are told not to keep things that belonged to them. But the skinwalkers are said to rob graves and make their powder from remains.

Everyone, white or Native, who lives on or near the Native American reservations in the southwest either has heard a skinwalker story or has told one.

Answer 5

Yes....the ritual is called a "bender". A 4 or 5 day bender will have you looking like something the cat done did drug in, smelling like a goat, howling like a hyena, shitting and pissing like a sick cow and having the temper of a shithouse rat..
It's magical!

Answer 6

That is basic shamanism all over the world. It's sympathetic magic.